a fantastic first birthday

To celebrate Emerson's big day, we headed to the carousel at Riverfront Park with Austin, Sammie, and Maisie.

Daddy chose the tallest horse there was.

Cheesy photobomb face.

Just pretend the bar isn't there.

Then after Emerson's afternoon nap, it was time to party!

I just woke up, and all these balloons appeared!

The monkey cake.

Mini pizzas a la Grandma Stitt.

Yes, applesauce. Emerson loves it.

Then came unwrapping presents. He started off slowly, but then he got the hang of it.

Hello, camera!

And then, of course, the cake devouring. He went for a chocolate donut (an ear) first. Smart boy.

Then the Peppermint Pattie (an eye). He was a little taken aback by the mintiness.

Finally getting the idea (we helped).

And then the other ear.

The terrifying aftermath.

It was a great day! We love our Emerson boy.

splashin' around

We've been checking out some of Salem's splash pads lately with Aunt Sammie and cousin Maisie. Emerson is mostly a fan.

Water!!

Trying to crawl without his knees touching the ground.

Daddy put me on top of a fountain.

And then the water came on.

I didn't like it.

My cold/angry face.

Thankfully, I got over the shock.

life lately

I fail at blogging.

Alas, it's time to move on.

Here are some highlights from the past month (as well as a few pictures from before then that got lost along the way).

We went to a tulip farm. Emerson drove a tractor. With Andrew's help. Not really.

Aww, cousins in wooden shoes.

Emerson had pasta sauce for the first time. He loved it.

It was a messy process.

"Saaaaaaauce!"

And it just got messier and messier.

Yes, he's wearing pajamas at dinner. Whatever.

Emerson got a balloon when we went to Burgerville, and he fell in love with that too.

We went on a few hikes with Andrew's family.

Emerson's cousin, Maisie, had a birthday party at Riverfront Park. A fun time was had by all, and Emerson even had his first carousel ride.

He's now standing up on everything. No walking yet, just lots of crawling and standing and climbing the stairs.

There's also been lots of cheesy smiling.

My just-woke-up face.

And getting both legs stuck in one pant leg.

Just this week, we went to a new-ish aquarium in Portland with Austin, Sammie, and Maisie. Emerson didn't entirely get the whole idea of looking through the glass, but he still liked it.

He liked these little tiny ones best.

A few more things Emerson has been looooving lately:

The dishwasher.

This spray bottle.

Kleenex.

So much happiness. Yes, I let him eat some. So sue me.

Is he allowed to just wear onesies forever?

And his biggest love: the garbage can.

Do you see those toes??

As you can see, we are busy and happy!